Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

You Said It

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On The Brigantine Gallery:

Thank you for the lovely article about the gallery. The world is a far better place because of the things people create with their hands and their hearts. Your column honors those people. THANK YOU! –Joan Ramp

On Hand knit fingerless gloves:

I love the fingerless gloves too. I have such a hard time DOING anything with gloves or mittens on…I just need my digits too much! –Lauren

On Olympic Minded:

this work-out towel makes me want to get my act together. hitting the gym tomorrow! my back-end thanks you Words To Sweat By! –Lisa

On The Brigantine Gallery:

HA! I think a few of my relatives have those “Ignorant Hick” t-shirts in their closets! Love the bank-owned bird house :-( –Staci Marquez-Nichols

Thanks for your input last week, and I look forward to another great week with you :)

Crafts for Haiti

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ch_haitiBy this time, everyone has heard about the devastation in Haiti. People all over the world are doing their part to send their support in whatever way they can. And our craft community is no different.

Crafters are some of the nicest people I know. Our community seems to accept everyone, make room for everyone, no matter what their level of expertise. The community also has some pretty big hearts and some have found a way to work within their resources to do what they can to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

And you can be a part of it.

  1. A group of crafters have created their own Etsy store at Craft Hope for Haiti. Dozens of people have donated their products to the site and 100% of the proceeds goes to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Relief. The prices are reasonable and the giving feels good.
  2. Indie Fixx is holding a Haiti Relief Fundraiser. There are new additions daily that you can bid on and know that should you win the bid, you can feel great about 100% of the proceeds going to the American Red Cross to help them reach their 1 million relief goal.
    3. Update from Erika: Here are a couple more:
  3. Haiti by Hand
  4. Knitters without Borders

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There are many places to give to help the Haitian people. I don’t know that it’s that important where you give – just that you do. Whatever you can give helps. Make the time to check out these sites and maybe buy something.

[Read more…]

Happy Birthday Try Handmade!

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One year and one month ago today (yes, I’m a little late with this post!) I decided to take my love of handmade public in a big way. I blogged about a handmade seatbelt purse and have never looked back.

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Birthday banner by Earmark

Along the way I’ve been joined by a wonderful panel of columnists (with a new one coming soon!) who have helped bring more depth and breadth to the topics covered.

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Birthday card by Two Guitars

And most importantly: you. We’ve gone from zero to over 20,000 readers per month in just a year. While to a lot of sites, those numbers seem tiny, to me they’re HUGE. It means that we’re making progress in getting the word out about handmade as a thoughtful and important alternative to mass-produced junk. We’re being successful in telling people that they can have a more connected and intimate life if they just interact with the people around them.

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Cupcake toppers by Monkey Moo Moo

Without you, our fabulous readers, we would just be a bunch of fanatics raving alone, so thank you for coming along for the ride!

Thanks ThreadBanger

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Imagine my surprise after returning from a week of Thanksgiving fun to see that Try Handmade was mentioned on ThreadBanger.

It’s a great article on the virtues of buying handmade, but hey, preaching to the choir here! They point out the beautiful MyStudio bag which I still covet! Check it out — it’s a good read.

ThreadBanger is also a great place to go to learn to sew, well, pretty much anything, and their video episodes are fun and addictive. If you get stuck on a project, they even have a forum you can turn to.

Threadbanger is a network for people who love to DIY, recreate, refashion and craft. Forget about corporate stores, we’re here to help you create and find your own style! From our episodes, forum and blog to our newsletter and contests, there is something for everyone. Our goal is to bring together people who can share their ideas, tips and advice with others and help make the world more fashionable – Threadbanger style!

So if you like Try Handmade and you love to sew (or want to learn) ThreadBanger is a site to check out.